New initiative aims to expand scope of corporate water targets

Four well-known environmental organizations are collaborating to standardize how corporations calculate water risks and impacts not only from their own operations but from electricity contracts and supply chains, too.

Their goal is a model akin to the “scope” system for greenhouse gas emissions of climate standards organization Greenhouse Gas Protocol that breaks out carbon footprint by direct operations (Scope 1), electricity purchases (Scope 2) and supply chain activities and product usage (Scope 3).

Historically, companies with water stewardship and replenishment goals have limited those efforts to their own direct operations, in part because of a lack of standards for assessing further-reaching impacts and risks, said Gregg Brill, technical lead for the CEO Water Mandate, a partnership between the United Nations Global Compact and Pacific Institute that advises corporations on water targets.

CEO Water Mandate is leading the initiative — dubbed Corporate Guidance for Assessing Water Scopes 1-3 in Value Chains — with certification body SCS Global Services and environmental nonprofits World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and World Resources Institute (WRI).

“For many companies, the greatest water risks and impacts lie in their supply chain or the end use of their products, yet attention remains stubbornly focused on direct operations,” said Sara Walker, director of corporate water engagement and acting water lead at WRI. One notable exception: Cargill, which has set both volumetric and quality-related targets across its vast agricultural commodities footprint, Walker said.  

Broader coverage for water targets

The intent of the new initiative is to help companies extend their commitments beyond a narrow operational scope, an ambition of a growing number in the apparel, data center, food and chemicals sectors. 

“This transition is essential, as water stewardship throughout the entire value chain is crucial for mitigating risks, enhancing brand reputation and driving long-term business resilience,” said CEO Water Mandate’s Brill.

Public debate over the impact of aggressive data center expansion on watersheds across the U.S. has heightened interest in better guidance about what corporations should include in their water pledges, said Alexis Morgan, global water stewardship lead at WWF.

While the three biggest hyperscalers — Amazon, Google and Microsoft — all have plans to reduce and replenish freshwater, none of them include water related to their electricity consumption or supply chains. That’s true of many apparel companies as well, Morgan said. 

“We need a more equal playing field that holds companies to account across multiple dimensions, including quality and quantity,” he said. 

Not a replacement

The new guidance is meant to complement existing voluntary frameworks for corporate water disclosure — including (but not limited to) CDP, the Alliance for Water Stewardship and Volumetric Water Benefit Accounting standards — as well as mandatory reporting systems including the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.

“The idea is to take a step back, define the foundations and integrate this guidance into other standards so that everything is more comparable,” said Victoria Norman, executive director for SCS standards and assurance systems, while pointing out that corporations are wary of new standards. “We are not throwing anything out with the bathwater.”

The group is seeking corporate partners, tied to several tiers of funding commitments that start at $20,000. It’s assembling a working group to review guidance drafts and has set an 18-month timeline for the work, beginning in mid-2026, with a public comment period planned at the 12-month mark.

“It’s been hard to coalesce around any one given framework,” said Christopher Wellise, vice president of global sustainability for data center company Equinix, which reports on its water withdrawals and consumption. “Hopefully, there’ll be some center of gravity around this particular one.”